Friday, May 08, 2015

Both by-elections show BN losing support

Results of the by-elections in Rompin, Pahang on May 5, and Permatang Pauh, Penang on May 7 were as expected with BN retaining Rompin and PKR retaining Permatang Pauh. But taking into account the lower turnouts, it cannot be denied BN's majority was cut by almost half in Rompin while PKR's majority was only cut marginally.

At a time when Najib was counting on showing his popularity, both results were not only disappointing to him, but reflected the voters unhappiness over his handling of the latest issues: GST, 1MDB, and so on.

The usual tricks of election like uncanny coincidences in allocation of development funds during campaign periods; use of government-controlled mainstream media in splashing bad news on the opposition and good news of BN; perceived harassment of opposition leaders; and even a case of someone having voted instead of a senior citizen, failed to work.

Dr Wan Azizah's repeat candidature in Permatang Pauh as a result of her husband Anwar Ibrahim's imprisonment had been described as 'taking the voters for granted' or 'fooling with the voters' and even as 'family business' or calling her 'a grandmother' did not help. Surely the voters knew the circumstances and understood that they were just reacting to injustice perpetrated by the powers that be, each time sabotaging their plans. What else could they do but to fight on and not surrender to harsh injustice?


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